Science creates a new gold legend

If you’ve lived around here for any length of time, you’ll know the legend of the Lost Lemon Mine. Some of you might even have taken part in the last gold rush.The story of Lemon, his partner Blackjack and the cursed gold they found in 1870 has been the topic of speculations and writings over the years — a notable account by Nanton News columnist Morgan Wilson’s great-grandfather, Senator Dan Riley, and later updated accounts were even written by the News editor over the years.Despite the years, and despite technological advances, no one has ever found the legendary Lost Lemon Mine. Well that’s not entirely true— no one has ever lived to tell about it.For centuries, man has sought out gold, yearned for it, killed for it. It’s the stuff of legends, myths and movies, of fortunes lost and found.And now, perhaps all the magic and mystery surrounding gold has disappeared.Scientists at McMaster University have released a report that says a team of scientists has been researching bacteria with the ability to change ions into solid gold. The report has been published in Nature Chemical Biology.The bacterium, Delftia acidovorans, protects itself by turning its environment into gold, the study says. This bacterium that can thrive on gold was one of two species first identified about 10 years ago at the University of Adelaide in Australia.The bacteria exist in the biofilm that forms on top of gold deposits. According to Wikipedia, a biofilm is an aggregate of micro-organisms where cells adhere to each other on a surface. These adherent cells are frequently embedded within a self-produced matrix of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). In other words, the bacteria live in a slime made up of its own cellular particles, and its defence mechanism is to turn its surroundings to gold.So although the bacteria lives in this biofilm, exposure to dissolved gold ions can kill it. That’s because the ions are toxic, while the metallic gold is unreactive.As a defense mechanism, the bacterium has developed to produce a protein that changes the gold ions, detoxifying them and changing the ions into gold nanoparticles. The nanoparticles — about 25-50 nanometres in size — can then accumulate within the bacterial cells, creating patches of gold over periods of time.It’s not something that anybody is going to get rich over, at least not without a lot of work.However, the discovery of the bacteria has some practical uses. It could be used to dissolve gold out of water carrying the ions. It could also be used to help identify gold-rich streams and rivers. No one knows though, at this time, how much dissolved gold actually exists.Gold is like ghosts. Man is always wanting to prove its existence.Perhaps it would be easier to stick to trying to find Lemon’s mine, despite the tragedies that seem to have befallen those who have found it. The legend has a certain romantic quality to it that a tale about bacteria simply lacks.In his own romantic flair, Wilson, who was raised surrounded by so many stories and so much history, refers to the bacteria as the Rumplestiltskin germ. Senator Riley, who wrote about the gold, and who backed expeditions to find it, would probably have been amused by this analogy.